Movie Reviews...ON CRACK!

I saw United 93, and I don't really know how to properly review it. I will say that my girlfriend and I had a very in-depth discussion afterwards, both of us with completely opposing opinions. So right there, you know the movie has something going for it. I mean, usually after a movie our conversations go like this:

ME: What'd you think?

LAUREN: Eh.

ME: Yeah. Want to go make out?

LAUREN: Can we get ice cream first?

ME: Sure.

LAUREN: Cool.

My lady's complaint on the movie was that she wanted it to probe more into the lives of people on the plane, she wanted more character development, more emotion.

And I see her point. Generally, I'm all about character development, but I felt sort of differently on this one. Basically, what United 93 does is show you, almost in documentary fashion, exactly what might have happened aboard that flight that morning. It also shows you what happened with the air traffic controllers. It cuts back and forth, and no, you don't really learn much about these people. I'm sure many movies in the coming years will focus on the lives of the 9/11 victims and families, and I'm sure they will be extremely moving. Oliver Stone has a 9/11 movie coming out in August that I imagine will feature lots of slow motion shots of Nicolas Cage running out of a building with two babies in his arms. It will also probably contain a subplot in which George Bush is revealed to be behind both 9/11 and the Vietnam War, knowing Stone's previous work. And while that film will probably be emotionally charged, I think it runs the risk of exploiting a very recent national tragedy. I didn't really feel United 93 did that. Honestly, days later, I don't know what it was trying to do.

I THINK it was just trying to put you, the viewer, on that plane and in that control room. Is that an experience you want to have? Make sure you ask that of yourself before you check it out. I found the movie totally draining, one of the most tense and exhausting experiences I've had in a theater. It was unlike anything I've ever seen, and it was just about perfectly made, never feeling staged or phony for a second. It was frustrating, suspenseful, and ultimately really depressing. Obviously.

It didn't do much for my girlfriend, she's read a lot about September 11th, and her argument was "I already know all this, why do I need to see this?" She wasn't all that affected by it. Different strokes, I guess, and I think people will take very different things from it. I saw it as a story of heroism, told simply, without a lot of flash and without championing these people any more than they needed to be. The emotion came from the story itself, which I don't think needed any flourishes or long scenes of people sobbing uncontrollably. This is sad, heavy, intense stuff as is. I don't know how far or how low these 9/11 movies will go, but this first one out of the gate got just about everything right as far as I'm concerned. It's not a good time, but it's respectful without being sentimental, classy without being stuffy. I loved it, and I give it an A.

I'd love to hear what you all think if you've seen it.

Also saw Thank You For Smoking, which I feel has been a bit overrated. You know what line should not be allowed in movies/TV anymore? "He's like fill in the blank...ON CRACK!" I mean, come on. It's been done, oh...a thousand times. And it always manages to get laughs. Who is still laughing at this line?  I would say 40% of Robin Williams' punchlines are "She's a lot like fill in the blank...ON CRACK!" This movie contains heavy narration, which I generally find kind of a lazy plot device unless it's done really well, and maybe the fifth line of the movie is "You know that guy in high school who got all the girls? I'm like him...ON ACID!" Lame, bad writing. The rest of the movie is OK, has some clever bits and good performances, but I don't really see what all the fuss is about. I'll give it a B-.

A lot of people are asking when I'm posting the rest of the "Lost" Drunk Ian podcasts. In addition, we recorded about two hours worth of new podcast material this weekend. The honest answer is that I've been extremely busy, and by the time I get home at night I generally don't have the energy to edit these things and post them. BUT you will get two podcasts by the end of the week. That is a promise.

Today's song lyric: "No one is united, and all things are untied..."

tags: united 93  movies  thank you for smoking  

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